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Two Turkish soldiers killed in clash with
Kurdish PKK rebels
1.8.2012 |
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Turkish soldiers in the Kurdish region in
southeastern Turkey (northern Kurdistan). The
PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,
the party also demanded an end to
ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms. Photo: AFP
August 1, 2012
DIYARBAKIR, The Kurdish region of Turkey,
— Two Turkish soldiers were killed Wednesday in a
clash with Kurdish rebels in the country's
southeast, according to local officials.
The troops were killed in an early-morning bomb
attack on troops sent to Lice town in southeastern
Diyarbakir province in Turkey Kurdistan to push back
members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
Diyarbakir governor Mustafa Toprak said.
Wednesday's attack follows similar bomb assaults on
Turkish security forces in the same zone, which
resulted in the death of four soldiers last week.
Several Kurdish rebels were also killed in hot
pursuit following the ambushes, according to local
security sources.
Ankara has recently launched a large ground
offensive against the rebels, whose activity
increases in spring and summer,www.ekurd.net
as the mountainous zone allows easier passage from
their hideouts across Turkish borders in the
southeast.
The PKK has several times proposed peaceful solutions regarding Kurdish problem,
Turkey has always refused saying that it will not negotiate with “terrorists”.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state,
which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish
state in the south east of the country.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights
for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, numbering more
than 20 million.
A large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels.
The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional
self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in
Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey,
reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action
against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The PKK is considered ass 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
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